Homecoming
by closetdensishipper
Summary: Written for Undercover Thursday. Taking a breath (god he really did miss his sunshine and gunpowder), he murmurs against her skin, "We do our best… to get the job done, stay safe and come home to each other every time. That's really all we can do, right?"


_Written for Undercover Thursday_

It's late, almost 3 am when he finally makes it home. The apartment is dark; he hadn't been able to send Kensi a text to let her know he was coming home tonight. He almost wants to turn around and go crash somewhere else so he doesn't risk waking her up.

But he's tired and sore, and he just can't bear to spend another minute in another place that isn't his own home.

Unlocking the front door as quietly as possible, he removes his shoes in the doorway. Thumbing his phone on, he uses the light from the screen to see where he's walking. He's been under for 3 weeks and he has no idea what state the apartment is in and he really doesn't feel like tripping over any random clutter.

Surprisingly, the place is relatively clean. As he walks through the living room, he looks toward the dog bed, expecting to see Monty sleeping away (he's not the best watch dog in the world anymore, preferring to sleep through the night rather than check out any foreign noises). But the bed is empty, which only means one thing.

Deeks had never allowed Monty to sleep on the bed with him. But once Kensi started staying here, then moved in with him, she'd let Monty up on lazy weekend mornings. And he knew she let Monty sleep with her whenever he wasn't there, especially for any extended undercover work.

He makes his way deeper into the apartment, stopping in the doorway to the bedroom. Peeking in, he has to stifle a laugh as he finds Kensi peacefully asleep, splayed out like a starfish and taking up the entire bed. Well, all except for one corner. Monty is also deep asleep, stretched out on his back with his legs spread and his head lolled to one side.

For a moment, he considers lying down on the couch, catching a few hours of sleep out there so as not to disturb his sleeping beauties. But the urge to be close to Kensi, to touch her, to bury his nose in her hair and drink in the familiar scent and to see those enchanting mismatched eyes staring back at him is all just too strong.

Silently padding over to the bed, he carefully sits on the edge. Her head is turned toward him and he gently brushes a few stray locks of hair from her face. God, she's gorgeous. He doesn't understand it most days, but somehow he got lucky enough to have met and fallen in love with this amazing woman.

His fingers softly glide down her cheek to her mouth, where he delicately runs a finger across her bottom lip. How he's missed her lips; not just kissing her, well not only kissing her. He also missed her laugh, her smile, her poor attempts at humor.

He calls her name softly as she finally begins to stir. He's already sore enough; he doesn't need to add any additional bruises to his body simply because he'd surprised his bad-ass girlfriend in the middle of the night.

Those intoxicating eyes he'd missed so much flutter open to meet his. She stares back at him in a daze and he watches as her surprised expression rapidly transforms to sheer happiness. She scrambles to sit up and throws her arms around his shoulders, murmuring in his ear, "You're home."

He simply nods against her neck, "I'm home."

As he pulls back from her embrace, Kensi slides her hands to his jaw, cradling his head in her hands. He sits quietly as her eyes sweep over his features, searching for any obvious injuries. Her fingers stroke over his thicker than normal scruff, then up into his hair, carding through his waves at the nape of his neck.

Her touch is so overwhelmingly comforting; his eyes drift shut and he breathes a deep, heavy sigh.

"You ok?" she asks softly.

"Yeah," he answers without opening his eyes, "nothing a few hours of sleep and a couple days off to lie around here with you won't cure."

"Sounds perfect," she murmurs.

And then he feels her soft lips press against his in a gentle, sweet kiss. It's a homecoming kiss; an 'I've missed you and I'm glad you're safe' kiss.

But it's been too long since their lips last touched and they both just can't get enough. Deeks brings both hands up to cup her face while Kensi's fingers tighten their grip in his hair, pulling him closer to her body. Her warm tongue slides along his bottom lip and just as he opens his mouth to welcome her in, Monty wakes up

Overly excited to find his daddy home, he leaps over to Deeks, whining and wagging his tail wildly. Deeks smiles apologetically at Kensi as he ruffles the mutt's fur. But she just shrugs her shoulders and smiles saying, "He missed you almost as much as I did."

The excitement soon dies down though and Monty starts to get comfortable again, ready to go back to sleep. But Deeks ushers him off the bed and walks him out to the family room to sleep on his big fluffy pillow instead.

Returning to the bedroom, he makes sure to close the door. Monty is generally well-behaved, but Deeks has no intentions on sharing his bed tonight with anyone other that his smoking hot girlfriend who he hasn't seen (naked) in three weeks.

He startles a bit as Kensi comes up behind him. Her fingers gently glide across his shoulders and down his back, sending a shiver through his body. Sliding her hands around to his chest, she presses her body against his back and gently squeezes.

He fights to suppress a gasp as the pressure of her hug sends shooting flares of pain from his bruised ribs. But he can't and she hears it.

Kensi forces him to turn around and lifts up his t-shirt. "I thought you said you were ok," she questions while lightly running her fingers over his ribs

"I am; it's just bruised ribs, no big deal," he tries to reassure her.

"What happened,' she demands with a little more force to her voice.

He shrugs his shoulders and smirks, "What typically happens. I might have shot my mouth off and said a few things the guy didn't particularly like. And he let me know it."

He tries to keep his voice casual. He's been in worse scrapes, been on the receiving end of worse beatings. This really was nothing to worry about, but he knew Kensi wouldn't see it that way.

"Deeks," she's chastising him and he accepts it because he knows she's feeling guilty for not being able to have his back, feeling powerless to keep him safe when he goes undercover without her.

Grasping her hands, he removes them from under his shirt and links their fingers together. He attempts to calm her, "Kens, this is nothing new. And I survived. They're not even cracked; I promise. I even had a doctor check it out."

But it clearly isn't working. "That's not the point; this shouldn't happen. I should be there backing you up, trying to convince you to just shut up. And when that doesn't work, I'm supposed to be there to kick the guy's ass for you."

"My hero," he says sincerely.

Rolling her eyes, she says forcefully, "I'm not joking."

He sighs, "I know, Kens. I understand how you feel but you know this can happen if I go under with Callen or Sam… or even you. You can't always protect me." Those last words are out of his mouth before he can even think to stop them. It's true of course, but she doesn't need to be reminded about it, especially by him.

Deeks watches Kensi turn away quickly at his words. While she's much more vulnerable with him these days, she still has a tendency to retreat when the emotions overwhelm her. So he gives her a moment to compose herself.

They've had this conversation before, but he realizes it's been quite awhile since he'd been called back by LAPD for an extended undercover mission. His time away had obviously brought latent fears back to the surface.

And while these fears will always exist as long as they both do this job, he needs to know they're both still on the same page, both still committed to the bigger picture.

He can't stand the separation any longer. Closing the distance between them, he wraps his arms around her, pulling her close. She tries to pull away, "I don't want to irritate your ribs." But the minor pain from his ribs is nothing compared to the need to hold her.

"It's ok, Kens. Just relax."

She sighs and fully leans into him, resting her arm over his. Deeks leans his head down, nuzzling her neck and ghosting his lips over whatever skin he can reach.

Taking a breath (god he really did miss his sunshine and gunpowder), he murmurs against her skin, "We do our best… to get the job done, stay safe and come home to each other every time. That's really all we can do, right?"

Linking their fingers together, Kensi nods her head in agreement.

"All in still, right?"

"Today, tomorrow and the day after." she whispers.

A few moments pass in silence as they're simply content to just hold each other.

Deeks finally speaks, "I don't know about you, but all I want to do now is crawl into that bed and not leave it for a very long time."

"Right… You're probably exhausted. Come on, let's go to sleep." Kensi tugs on his hand, leading him toward the bed.

Pulling her back into his chest, he whispers into her ear, "Who said anything about sleeping."


End file.
